Welcome Home
by SoulShdw
Summary: Just something that came to mind after reading chapters 245 and 246 of the Naruto manga. Oneshot, take it as you will. Changed Title because I noticed someone else did the same sort of thing and with the same title. My bad.


**Home Again**

Sakura walked besides her newly returned teammate with a small grin on her face. Tied around her wrist now was one of the two bells that Kakashi had tested them again with. She couldn't help but allow herself a small chuckle when she recalled their sensei's face when Naruto had put his plan into action.

"What's so funny Sakura-chan?" She turned to her right to see Naruto offering her a small smirk as he walked alongside her. His hands were resting on the back of his head as the two walked down the Konoha streets lit only by the full moon. She couldn't help but return his small smirk. The annoying boy she had known was no longer present it seemed. Although he still wore that god-awful bright orange color which at times hurt her delicate sensibilities but it seemed to fit him in some odd way.

She laughed slightly at the thought, running her hand with the bell through her pink hair. "I'm just thinking about Kakashi-sensei's face when you were about to tell him the end to that perverted book."

Naruto chuckled in response. He lowered his hands from behind his head to hold his bell in front of his eyes. "You think that a Jounin wouldn't have such a weakness." He then shook his head in amusement as he lowered his arms and placed his hands in his pockets. "I'm surprised we didn't think of that sooner."

Sakura playfully slapped him on the back. "Idiot. We both know that wouldn't have worked on any other Jounin."

Naruto shrugged, a grin still ever present on his face. He was walking with the backpack that he had returned to Konoha with. The test with Kakashi and Sakura had not yet given him time to return to his apartment, or rather the remains of it. Naruto actually had no idea if his apartment was even still there. He frowned slightly at that thought before allowing a thin grin to remain on his face. He paused as the two passed a side street. Sakura stopped after taking a few more steps before giving him a quizzical expression. He smiled and said, "Looks like this is where we part Sakura-chan. I guess I'll see ya around."

Sakura frowned a bit but said nothing at first. _I still want to talk though..._ A small smile crossed her face as she thought of an idea and began walking down the side street towards Naruto's apartment. Seeing his confused look she only said with a smile, "Trying to ditch me already Naruto? You and I have a lot of catching up to do. Two and a half years is a long time after all." She then mock-sighed before continuing, "So I guess I'll have to walk you home to your place since you probably don't remember where it is. And in return, you'll treat me to a cup of tea at the ramen place."

Naruto couldn't help but let his smile widen. He rubbed his head as if embarrassed and said with a grin, "You know me too well Sakura-chan." He quickly caught up to her and matched her walking speed as the two continued talking, happy that they were able to speak to each other after such a long wait.

-

The two were standing outside Naruto's apartment door while he fumbled through his bag to find the key to the apartment. Sakura found it oddly amusing how he insisted that he use the key even though they both could pick the lock with ease. Finally with an exclamation of triumph, Naruto shoved the small metal key into its slot. The door opened slowly with a loud click, revealing the room to the two ninjas.

Sakura gasped when she saw the destruction in the room. The tables and chairs were broken, the wooden pieces scattered about the room. As the two ventured further into the apartment, they noticed that his bed had been similarly defaced and his windows broken. Written across the walls in some substance that neither could identify at first glance were, "LEAVE KONOHA DEMON!" Sakura gasped when she saw the writing and couldn't help but wonder what happened. _Who would do such a thing?_

Shortly after Naruto had left the village to train with Jiraiya, Sakura had caught up with Iruka once. When she asked where he was headed, he told her that he was going to clean up Naruto's apartment so that it wouldn't be the normal disaster area that it normally was when he came back. Although Sakura thought that it would be a moot point, considering what she knew of Naruto, she tagged along since she had nothing better to do that day. Soon after that day, she took it to habit to tag along with Iruka as the two cleaned the traveling boy's apartment. Hence why the current scene shocked her so much. _We just cleaned this place yesterday... who could've done this?_ Hesitantly she looked towards Naruto with a concerned expression.

She was shocked as the boy made his way through the rubble with what seemed like disinterest. He idly looked around the room before dropping his bag in the corner. He cracked his neck to the side as he calmly walked towards the writing on the wall and reached up and touched it with his finger. He wiped some of the liquid off and sniffed it before licking it lightly with the tip of his tongue. He sighed, "It's just ink." He then walked away from the writing and began to push some of the broken furniture together into a pile. To Sakura's eyes, it seemed as if the boy didn't even seem to care.

However Naruto was far from pleased. In fact if Sakura hadn't been present he probably would have broken down from anger and sadness. _Looks like someone found out that I was coming back..._ He thought grimly as he walked towards Sakura who still wore an expression of horror. He forced himself to smile as he said, "Let's go get something to eat. I'll clean this up later."

She blinked at his nonchalant reaction as he walked past her and waited at the door to see if she was coming. She saw the forced grin and couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for her friend. _That smile... if I wasn't here to see what induced it I would have been fooled... _Horror dawned on her as she silently walked out with him, remembering all the times in the past when she had seen a similar smile on his face. Finally after walking for a bit she said, "Naruto... I'm sorry..."

Naruto didn't look at her as he shrugged and answered. "Nothing to apologize for Sakura-chan. It's not like its your fault." He said in a soft and comforting tone. The two continued walking for quite some time before Naruto paused in the street, a serious expression on his face. Finally he asked, turning to face her. "Sakura-chan, I know we were going to get some ramen, but there is someplace I'd like to visit first. Do you mind?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. Where to?" She asked, trying to smile for him but failing as the sight of his apartment entered her head again.

He only gave her a thin smile as he led the way. "Someplace I used to go when I needed to be alone to think."

-

Sakura watched Naruto out of the corner of her eye as he walked towards the edge of the top of the Hokage monument and sat down, swinging his legs off the edge. He patted the stone next to him and gestured for her to sit down. He still had a small smile on his face, as if he had totally forgotten the mess at his apartment. She slowly walked over and sat down next to him, giving him another worried glance. "Naruto..."

He didn't seem to hear her, or if he did he made a show of not showing it. He gestured towards the village with a haphazard wave. "Look." He ordered softly, causing the girl to divert her attention from her recently returned friend to the scene before her. She almost gasped as she overlooked the whole of Konoha, the sight appearing beautiful to her eyes. She looked over the village with wonder, as if it was the first time she was really seeing it. She allowed a small smile to cover her face before saying, "You sure as hell found a nice place to think."

He chuckled slightly as he rubbed the back of his spiky head. "Yeah, its really something isn't it? Looks amazing when the sun is rising or setting." He ignored the incredulous look from his pink haired friend as he let out a large sigh. "Two and a half years... and nothing has changed..." Sakura raised an eyebrow as she studied his expression. It almost seemed... nostalgic.

She gave him a playful punch on his shoulder before saying with a grin, "Stop trying to act cool Naruto. It didn't work back then and it won't work now."

He shrugged before offering a small smile. "Couldn't hurt to try now would it?" He then paused and raised an eyebrow before jokingly offering, "Unless you plan on pushing me off as punishment?"

She openly laughed at his expression, forgetting all that had been troubling her earlier. _He hasn't changed a bit. He's still that dopey guy._ Finally she stopped laughing long enough to wipe a tear from her eye and catch her breath. "No, unless you want me to." He only shook his head weakly and smiled back at her before laying back on his back, hands locked on the back of his head as he stared at the sky. She followed his example and the two stared at the night stars for a long time in a comfortable silence.

Sakura felt as if any troubles she had were melting away as she watched the sky. She at one time had believed that one could see the future and the past written within those bright specks of light racing towards the earth. She had long since grown out of those fantasies but still admired how beautiful the night sky could be. Finally the smile left her face as she remembered why they had come up here in the first place. "Naruto, aren't you angry?"

"Hmm?" He murmured, as if falling asleep. "About what?" He asked as he look towards one constellation of stars seemingly brighter than the rest.

She slowly turned her head towards him and blinked before venturing, "About your apartment? We'll probably never find out who did that."

He shrugged his shoulders before closing his eyes slowly. He wasn't meeting her gaze and this was something that Sakura noticed with a frown. "It doesn't really matter. It's not like anything that was there was irreplaceable. Shit happens, ya know?"

She frowned at that before speaking in a firm voice. "Something tells me that this was no mere vandalism Naruto..."

He opened his eyes as his shoulders twisted slightly against the stone as he shrugged. "Eh, the village has never really liked me. It's not all that surprising really."

"But enough to warrant something like that? I just can't see why anyone would dislike you enough to do that..."

Naruto turned his head in shock and blinked a few times. He then let out a small smile before saying, "Thanks Sakura-chan. That means a lot to me." He then sat up and closed his eyes before venturing, "So ol' Tsunade never told you why the village hates me so much?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow before sitting up with him. "No... why would Tsunade-sama know?"

He gave a weak grin before letting out a large sigh. He closed his eyes as if dreading what was to come and asked, "Do you want to know why?"

Sakura blinked at his question. _Well yeah... I mean he's becoming quite a good shinobi but even back when we were kids the adults treated him harshly. I just didn't notice nearly as much back then._ She then was about to respond when she saw that he was tense, more so than she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes locked on to his face and realized that his eyes were closed in resignation, as if waited for a verdict. She blinked as she realized, _He's... he's terrified right now._ _What could the reason be if he's that scared to even tell me about it?_

Finally after a long period of silence, Sakura rose to her feet and let her visage turn into a comforting smile. She grabbed Naruto's shoulder lightly and said, "Come on. Ichiraku's will be closing soon."

Naruto opened his eyes and his cerulean eyes locked with her emerald ones in shock. "Sakura-chan?" He questioned, confused as to what was taking place.

She sighed, understanding his confusion. She stood up and turned away and took a few steps before pausing and speaking loud enough for him to hear. "I don't care about your secret Naruto. Those people who treat you harshly, they don't know you as a person. If they did, they would be ashamed of their actions." She took a deep breath before finishing with, "I wouldn't care if you were an angel or demon, as long as you were still you."

Naruto blinked at her in shock. _Interesting choice of words, all things considered,_ he idly thought before rising to his feet and walking up next to her. He didn't even realize what he was doing before he had had turn Sakura to face him and embraced her in a tight hug. "Naruto?" She questioned, confused as to what he was doing.

He sniffed, not realizing that his tears were running down his face. He slowly spoke, but his voice was very soft. It cried out in pain and sadness to Sakura's ears and she felt her heart going out to the young man holding her tightly. "Sakura-chan... you have no idea what those words mean to me... Thank you."

His voice was so sorrowful that Sakura couldn't help but return the embrace, if only to help comfort her friend. _Whatever it is, it has been plaguing him for a long time it seems..._ "Your welcome Naruto-kun. You'll always have a friend in me, you know that."

The two stayed like that for quite some time before they broke apart, a smile on each of their faces. Finally Naruto actually took the chance to look at his watch and frowned, "Looks like the tea and ramen will have to wait until tomorrow Sakura-chan. Ichiraku's has got to be closed now."

She let out a sigh. _Moments ago he was on the verge of a breakdown it seemed and now he's already thinking about ramen. Well that's Naruto for you._ She smiled and shook her head as she said softly, "You're hopeless." She then raised her voice a little louder and said, "I guess we should be heading back. Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei said we would be going out on missions again soon."

Naruto pumped his fist into the air, "Yeah, I can't wait. I'll get to show you can Kakashi-sensei just how much I've improved with Ero-sennin."

She only chuckled as the two leaf shinobi walked down the pathway towards the village of Konoha. _He's still the same after all. That's comforting._ She then allowed a gentle smile to cover her face as she asked, "Naruto, I was just thinking. We have a guest room in our house, wanna stay there tonight since those jerks trashed your place?"

Naruto blinked at her kind offer and his mouth hung open like a fish. Sakura chuckled at his imitation of a gold fish and looked ahead of the two as they continued on. Finally he shut his mouth and scratched the back of his head nervously, "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with your parents, coming back this late with a guy and all..." He cursed mentally as he said that, it had not come out as he intended.

She gave him an odd look and frown slightly. "Don't get any funny ideas Naruto-kun. Besides, we're teammates and friends. If you can't accept my help, who else are you going to ask?" She said that last part with a bit of humor in her voice.

He once again looked at her with shock on his face before he fell into a happy grin. "If it's alright, I'd like to."

Sakura merely smiled back as she led him back home. Konoha was once again his home as well as hers and she was happy that he was once again in her life, though she didn't really know why.

_To the future then..._ She thought as she reached for his hand. He only squeezed her hand as well, a smile on his face as he entered Konoha once more.


End file.
